The contemporary electoral politics in India has become an occasion for the display of muscle and money strength and much less about delivering people’s needs.
Rabindra Nath Das retired as a teacher from Zila School, Purnia, Bihar.
Nowadays, it is the election fever that seems to have taken a grip over the entire nation. We all know that as soon as the Election Commission officially declares the dates for the Lok Sabha elections, the leaders of different political parties emerge out of hibernation & compete with one another in wooing voters.
They try to win over the voters with lofty promises & by squandering away high amounts of black money over their election campaign.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to assert that, the entire election drama is in fact prompted & directed by some influential & corporate houses that are operating from behind the scene.
Let’s search within & ask ourselves whether the present electoral system is a farce or whether it truly serves the requirements of the people.
In the present situation, can real educated & deserving candidates get party tickets to contest the election if they don’t have enough money & corporate support?
It is paradoxical that today we often come across candidates who have criminal background & plenty of unaccounted money and they manage to succeed in getting party tickets on account of their wealth or support. In fact, many of our national & regional parties suffer from this fatal disease.
Our democracy cannot survive unless the people of our nation are adequately educated & conscious of their rights and duties and see through the nefarious tactics resorted to by some political parties during election campaigns.
We are used to seeing our people being continuously fooled year after year and the politicians making the best of their ignorance.
However, I am optimistic and hopeful that the upcoming election will be meaningful and beneficial to the people in general. When the entire electoral process is radicalised, electoral reforms are executed to the letter and deserving candidates have the ability to live up to the hopes and aspirations of our people, only then can we bring about qualitative changes in all the spheres of the country.
Finally, in spite of considerable shortcomings I fervently appeal to my beloved countrymen to come forward to cast their precious votes in favour of those who are men of vision and character without considering their party affiliation.
This article is part of democracy4you campaign.
